Berlin: Day 1 - Finding our way

So, we arrived in Berlin without incident. We checked into our apartment. It is a great 1 bedroom apartment with a kitchen, flat screen TV's with a USB machine where you can plug in your Ipod to watch your programs on the TV. We haven't had time to use this nor do I understand why people would watch TV while on vacation. I'm happy just with the BBC while I get ready to go in the morning. The apartment is clean with a fully stocked kitchen (wine glasses included).

We are staying in east (formerly communist) Berlin. While aesthetically, the area is not as pleasing to the eye as the western part of the city, the location (a few feet from the U-Bahn) can't be beat. There is also a CVS type shop right across from the apartments that sells just about everything you could need as well as a 24 hour mini mart place that sells water, soda, wine, beer, champagne and snack foods.

After settling in, we headed over to Potsdamer Platz. Not at all what I expected. I am used to the "platz" being an open square. This one is home to a massive entertainment complex, the Sony Center. There are restaurants, a movie theater, IMAX, and some shops. The LegoLand Discovery Center is also here. Two American chains, Tony Roma's and Dunkin Donuts were present as were Starbucks (you can easily find one within a mile anywhere you are) and Haagen Daz.

Potsdamer Platz has plenty of places to catch a bite to eat. I usually see candles in restaurants and automatically assume children are not appropriate at the establishment. However, in Berlin it seems that candles are used at tables in every restaurant regardless of who they cater to. So, if you go with little kids, have no fear.

After having dinner, we headed down the street toward the Bradenberg Tor (Gate). On the way we passed the Memorial to Holocaust victims. This is a interesting memorial consisting of concrete slabs of different shapes beginning small and growing tall until it becomes a bit of a maze. I am not sure what the sculptor/designer's interpretation was but I had a feeling of being consumed by the slabs of concrete the further we walked into it. You literally get lost within the memorial. For me, it stood more as a symbolic representation of the Holocaust as something that started out on a small scale and grew to the point that the human mind cannot fathom. So, if this was the sculptor's intention, he did a great job in conveying his message. There is alot of critiscism about the Memorial only commemorating Jewish victims of the Holocaust instead of being all inclusive of the Roma, homosexuals, political prisoners, etc that died at the hands of the Nazis. I can see their point.

We continued walking towards the Brandenberg Gate, passing the massive and new US Embassy complex before reaching the gate. Berlin was having a Festival of Lights where the important attractions were lit up including the gate. The Berlin wall ran right along the Brandenberg Gate and beyond. The gate itself was located in East Berlin. The Quadriga statue on top faces the East. It's hard to believe today that the wall kept the West from the gate. The location of the wall is marked by a double line pointing out hte course of the Berlin Wall. Large slabs of the wall are found across the city lining the area of the wall's original location including where we went earlier at Potsdamer Platz. In fact, until 1989, Potsdamer platz was an empty area divided by the Wall. Souvenir shops sell "pieces" of the wall. Some have ceritficates of authenticity attached to them. Whether real or not, they are a bit of an expensive novelty - almost 13 Euro!

After reaching the gate, the kids were exhausted and we were not oriented enough to find the nearest metro. We got in a taxi to head back to the apartment to get everyone bathed and into bed ASAP.

It was the best night's sleep I had in a while.